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I have heard it said many times that your thoughts destroy you as much as your deeds. I don't want to go down the yellow brick road of psychobabble here, but are we as good as our deeds or as guilty as our deepest thoughts.

I think no. I feel that yes, one may have bad thoughts; but the controll of those thoughts is what redeems us. For example say this one fellah wants to go out and shoot people, he knows it is wrong but he does it anyways, he kills 16 people including his wife and mother and injures 30. That was Charles Whitman the UT tower sniper if he had been able to controll his self he could have gone on being an above average student and eventually dying of the brain tumor he had, in obscurity. Now I do feel that there are some psychic injuries, but they fade as do physical injuries only leaving mental scars.

This post has been edited by birddog20002001 on 01-Jul-2004, 09:39 PM

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"when a person is prepared to die for a cause, and indeed to glory in such a death, it impossible to supress him or the cause it represents." Jawaharlal Nehru

"Only the suppressed word is dangerous." Ludwig Borne

"All of our freedoms are a single bundle, all must be secure if any is to be preserved." Dwight David Eisenhower

"All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are both immortal and divine." Socrates

It's not a good thing to think of ill will toward someone. The above biblical quotes come to mind (Perticularly the first one). But sometimes I do have Racist, Sexist, Murderous, or similar thoughts cross my mind. I try not to give characters in these scenes a name. At least without an identity, then it's not against anyone and the bad karma can filter off into oblivion just leaving me feeling bad about even thinking such a thing. I try not to let any of that show, because it's not who I am. I'd rather only myself get hurt, than myself and someone else because of ill thoughts that invade my mind from time to time.

I tend to agree with birddog. We are all human(even sock monkeys) and we are weak. We think impure and bad things sometimes. This can be seen as a test of our strength or a sign of our weakness. Bad thoughts, impure thoughts, and just plain mean thoughts come and go all the time. It is up to us to push them out of our mind before we dwell on them. It is the dwelling that may lead us down the road to temptation and to acting on whatever that thought might be. And there are the thoughts that we may bring about ourselves. Looking at another member of the opposite sex and thinking things is one example. We can avoid these by removing ourselves from situations where we may tend to think as such. I know that is easier said than done sometimes. In conclusion , thoughts only destroy us if we allow them to monopolize our time and allow them to become manifest in our actions. In overcoming the thoughts we may have, we all take one step closer to becoming who we need to be.

My ramblingsUrian

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'Dying for being different is still better than living as a Sheep'-anon

As far as just the person who thinks a thought is concerned, I would say that I believe that yes, a thought is as bad as a deed, which is why the Bible instructs us to brings every thought under subjection.

However when the thinker involves another person, no. A thought only hurts the person who thinks it. But when you start involving other people then the deed becomes worse than the thought, becuaes it no longer involves just the person who thought it in the first place.

Does that make sense? I'm not the best at expressing my thoughts in writing.

Thoughts are just as bad as deeds when your wife reads them. Mine is telepathic.

From a Buddhist perspective, we constantly make causes with our thoughts, our words and our actions. We reap the results of the causes in the effects that come from them. One of the goals of my practice is to try to have SOME control over all three of these.

This post has been edited by maisky on 05-Jul-2004, 05:20 AM

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"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." Carl Sagan

O'siyo, My opinion only of course ..No, I do not believe that my thoughts are as bad as an actual deed~ A thought, if mine, is just that..my thought and my thought does not harm nor affect others unless I act upon it hence it becoming a deed~~ If that thought is of evil or wrong intention and I end up 'acting' out that deed well, I must pay the consequences~ No one caused me to commit a bad deed just as no one is responsible for me having a 'bad' thought.. As far as someone looking at another person, same or opposite sex, and 'thinking' to themself how attractive that person is, do I think that is wrong? NO..we are human and to admire others, I believe, is natural~I have great admiration for others in many ways and if I see a nice looking man and think 'wow, I really would like to meet him' or 'wow, he has a nice butt' then I don't think I am going to be 'damned' for that thought nor do I feel I have done anything wrong~ I don't believe a thought, good or bad, is anything like an actual good or bad deed~ When it comes right down to it, the one having the thought, good or bad, is the only one with the power to keep it as a thought or act upon it~ To me there is a big difference~~~Sty-U

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I always knew one day I would travel this road;I just did not know that today would be the day....

'Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows' --Sitting Bull